


Breathe

by melian225



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, Gen, Mandrakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 13:07:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melian225/pseuds/melian225
Summary: It's Mandrake repotting time in Greenhouse Two.





	Breathe

It was repotting time, the time that all Mandrakes had long heard about but, as yet, these ones were yet to experience. Drake knew it was coming, but he wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Are you ready?” he heard from the next pot. That would be Petal, his neighbour – she was probably as scared as he was, but you would never know it. Petal was as calm as a Mandrake could get.

“As I’ll ever be,” he said. He could hear noises in the distance, the sound of the greenhouse doors opening and those huge lumping creatures coming in. Humans, Mandy had called them. Whatever they were, they were hulking beasts and Drake didn’t like them.

The soporific tones of the female human who seemed to inhabit the greenhouses began almost immediately, which was good in that it drowned out the incessant chattering noise of the younger beasts. They were so noisy it was impossible to steel himself for what was coming.

In a moment he found his pot being lifted into the air, with the female human speaking sternly to her charges. He wondered what she was saying, but their language had always been indecipherable to him. Besides, if he hadn’t learnt it yet, chances are he never would.

Over the cacophony he could hear Mandy calling to him, wishing him luck. He knew it was Mandy because her tone was distinctive, much higher in pitch than any of these human beasts. “You’ll be fine,” she cried. “Just breathe!”

Breathe. Yeah, that was fine advice when you were being pulled headfirst from your pot and exposed to the cold air of the greenhouse. Breathe? He was screaming for all he was worth. It felt like he was being pricked by a thousand pins all over his body. No, not a thousand, a million. A billion. More than he could possibly imagine. It was the most disruptive, painful thing he could possibly experience in all his life. Wasn’t it?

The female human didn’t even give him the dignity of being put into a new pot straight away. No, she left him dangling in the air, freezing, in absolute agony and shock, while she spoke to the younger humans. She seemed not to care about his distress. It was incredible how unfeeling those beasts could be.

As he took a breath, he opened his eyes, noticing that the beasts in front of him had strange things on their heads, like blossoms. Humans didn’t normally look like that, did they? But there they were, with pink and blue flowers erupting from their trunks. It was a most curious sight and he wished he could ask Petal about it. Petal would know. Petal knew everything.

Still, the female talked. She didn’t even care when one of her own charges, one of the younger humans, seemed to collapse in front of her. Drake wasn’t sure if the thing had heard his song, or if it was due to other things, but he felt a sense of satisfaction at it. Almost enough satisfaction to stop screaming.

But not quite.

Finally the thing deigned to end his torment and found a new pot for him, larger, that gave him more room. That was nice, if he was honest. The old pot had been getting too small and he’d been feeling rather cramped. No longer! He now had room to stretch out, to shove his roots further into the earth, to breathe out. Now he could do what Mandy had suggested. Now he would breathe.

Around him he could hear the noises of others being repotted. He wondered if they were being poked and prodded by the humans’ tentacles, like he had been, or if it was a more painless process. He wondered if they were suffering as much as he had.

Finally another pot came to rest by him, and he felt confident enough to speak. “Is that you, Mandy?”

“Yes,” came her voice. “Sorry. Just have to breathe.”

He laughed. “Well, it is good advice.”

Another pot rattled down to land on his other side. “Petal?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she said. She sounded as unflappable as ever. “Well, that wasn’t nearly as bad as they made out it would be.”

Mandy seemed to have caught her breath. “Not as bad?? Petal, did you even get repotted? That was the worst torture imaginable.”

“Painful, yes,” Petal admitted. “But not torture. Not when you think what’s in store for us in the future.”

Drake felt a sense of dread. “In the future? Petal, what could possibly be worse than that?”

She scoffed at him. “Didn’t you listen to what the human was saying?”

Mandy let out a scornful laugh. “Petal, remember, we can’t understand them.”

Drake shuddered involuntarily. He’d forgotten that Petal knew their language. “What did they say?”

“That we need to enjoy these pots,” she said. “Because once we’ve grown out of these ones, we won’t be getting any more.” And the normally steadfast Petal sounded almost frightened.

That was all she would say on the subject. Instead, in answer to their questions, she just repeated Mandy’s advice from before.

“Breathe.”

But Drake and Mandy knew Petal better than that.

“Looks like we’d better enjoy life while we’ve got it,” Mandy muttered. “So, Drake, got any decent fertilisers over there? We might as well make the most of it while we can.”


End file.
